Departure
by Tyrne J
Summary: AU - 5 total strangers find themselves in the midst of a dangerous conspiracy spanning all the colonies and Earth.


Author: tyrne J  
email: tyrnej@netscape.net  
  
Title:AU:Departure  
Type:Multi-part (oh, man, will I ever finish this?)  
Teaser:Practically the entire series rewritten. Why? I... have no idea...  
Rating:PG, just because of random language  
Spoilers:Yes and no. See the teaser.  
Warnings:I'm not sure yet... mild CURSING. You have been warned, anyway.   
Keywords:AU  
Pairings: Definite 1XR, that's all I know.  
Archive:As long as I know where it's going.  
Disclaimer:All of Gundam Wing belongs to its respective owners, which do not include me. This fic is written by a fan, for fans, for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. [As for Bubblegum Crisis and v. 2040, I don't own them either. I just used their names, is that okay?]  
t_j:This was written as a supplement to a songfic I was writing, because I made a bent departure from the series... but I guess that songfic will never get finished now...   
  
AU:  
Supplement:  
Departure:  
  
~Beginning~  
  
Ocean waves lapped peacefully away at the sand on the beach, reaching forward, pulling back, leaving a dark area where the water had once been. It was nearing sunset, and many of the tourists had left the beach for other activities.   
  
A figure stood at the edge of the beach, face turned toward the sea, watching the orange sun dip below the blue horizon.   
  
"Hee~ro!" The light voice called out, and the sound of feet running through sand echoed against the tall rocks that surrounded the beach. The figure turned, and watched as a girl rushed toward him, kicking off her sandals as she ran. "There you are! I found you!"  
  
She jumped toward him, and he caught her, pulling her close.   
  
"Relena." Cobalt eyes sparkled in the setting sun's light, and Heero Yuy smiled down at his love as he held her. She, in turn, smiled back, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair.   
  
"What have you been up to, Heero? I've been looking all over for you all day~!"   
  
"I've been watching the sunset. Look." He motioned toward the sea, and she gasped.   
  
"That's beautiful!"  
  
"Hn."  
  
They both sank down to the sand, watching as the last traces of orange disappeared from the horizon, and the dark hues of blue seeped forward across the ocean.   
  
"Heero?"  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"We'll be like this forever, right, Heero?"  
  
"Yes, we will."  
  
"I'm glad." Relena snuggled closer to her love, feeling the warmth of his chest and his hand running his fingers through her own hair. "I'll be with you always, Heero. And you will always be with me."  
  
Heero didn't say anything; he didn't need to. He looked down at her, a smile crossing his features as he ran his fingers over and over through her hair.  
  
~*~  
  
"GET ON OUT OF HERE!" The scream echoed through the alley, and a door opened, shoving a dark bundle out into the narrow corridor, straight into a garbage bin. "Your kind aren't needed here!"  
  
The door slammed closed with a final bang! and the bundle straightened, dusting itself off and muttering. Two arms appeared, then two legs kicked out, swinging a bent-up pot toward the wall. A face swung around, dark bangs hiding it from the dim light, and almost immediately, a long, thick braid swung out after it, carrying with it a bright blue ribbon.   
  
"Man, and I almost had it, too. What a waste of time." The figure muttered, kicking away various other broken articles as it disentangled itself from the trash. "A complete waste - 'Your kind aren't needed here' - what kind of talk is that; I have full rights, just like any other - "  
  
The wail of an approaching siren broke it off, causing the figure to whirl in surprise, glancing quickly down the alley toward where several streetlights and neon signs lit the actual street.   
  
"Aww... shit." With another complaint, it turned and ran the other way down the alley, careful to dodge the dark obstacles that littered the narrow passage.   
  
Several seconds later, the siren bit off shortly, and squealing tires echoed down the alley, followed closely by clicking heels and the splash of shallow puddles.  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"Something about someone sneaking into the Hasley banquet." There was an irritated snort.  
  
"What, like an assassin?"  
  
"Nah, more like a street thief. Came in for the food." Another snort. "Man, why are we always called to investigate this sort of stuff? Guarding some rich prick's banquet, I could be at home sleeping."  
  
A pair of flashlights swept the dark corridor, highlighting the garbage bins and crushed boxes before dancing further into the alley.   
  
"It doesn't seem like he's here anymore, though." Sigh. "He could've gone anywhere, but if he did, it was long before we got here."  
  
One circle of light played across a brick wall, the end of the alley.  
  
"He's gone."  
  
~*~  
  
He was dreaming again. He could always tell when he was dreaming. At least, he thought he could.  
  
"Hey, little brother, wanna go there?"  
  
A cheerful voice, light and fairylike. It danced across his hearing like a birdsong on the wind, and yet, it was close by, right next to him, in fact.  
  
He turned. Beside him, a brown-haired girl looked down at him, gray-blue eyes shining. Her hand reached down and grabbed a chubby hand, and with a start, he realized that the hand belonged to him.   
  
"I'll take you to the merry-go-round, do you want that, Trowa?"   
  
He nodded, eyes still locked on the girl, his sister.  
  
/My sister.../  
  
And suddenly, they were there, standing in front of an elaborate merry-go-round, already spinning round and round in a haze of lights and music. Somehow, the lights seemed brighter, even though he could see the bright sun shining through a cloudless sky. He gazed at the merry-go-round, watching as riderless horses, unicorns, even a dragon, passed him by on the wheel, frozen still even as they floated up and down along their poles.   
  
Then, he was looking up at the girl, and she bent down, smiling. "Which one do you want to ride? I'll tell the conductor - "  
  
A red-suited bearded man waved cheerily from the center of the merry-go-round, winking at Trowa, as if they shared a secret.  
  
" - and he'll stop it for you, and let you get on, ok?"  
  
He nodded again, watching as his sister smiled even wider. She turned and indicated the merry-go-round, pointing at various gilded horses and a hummingbird that he had not noticed before.  
  
"What about - "  
  
"I want that one." He surprised himself by speaking, his free hand pointing out to the side, at a mount that had yet to appear from around the wheel. "The lion."  
  
She blinked. "The lion?"  
  
As the ride turned, a large, tan lion appeared, golden mane glistening in the bright lights, paws outstretched toward the mount in front of it, mouth open in a menacing growl. Like the others, it moved up and down along its own golden spiral pole, following two dragons that cried out to each other silently from their posts.  
  
And the girl smiled again, reaching up to wave at the conductor. "Okay, if that's what you want, Trowa."  
  
He nodded again, eyes now locking onto the majestic lion. With a soft whir of gears, the merry-go-round came to a halt, and the girl lifted him gently aboard the mount, taking her own seat atop one of the dragons in front. Then the ride began again, the music playing softly.   
  
He smiled and waved at the conductor who laughed back at him, increasing the speed with little adjustment of a knob. His sister gazed at him over her shoulder, watching should he fall from his perch.  
  
/As if I would - /  
  
They went around once, twice, three times, and the trees around them blew gently, the birds twittering to each other amidst the ride music. Another turn -   
  
There were men in dark clothes and sunglasses standing in the clearing, where Trowa and his sister had been before. He blinked. They had not been there before, as far as he could remember. But his sister waved to them, just as she had to the conductor, and they nodded back at her, but one beckoned, lenses flashing in the sunlight.   
  
He blinked again, and suddenly, he was alone.  
  
True, he was still sitting atop the lion, watching the trees as they blew by, and the music and lights of the ride still added a fuzzy mist to his sight, but...  
  
She was gone. And the conductor. He whirled in his seat, looking for the clearing where the men had appeared -   
  
They were gone as well.  
  
Not knowing what to do, he remained where he was, blinking through the haze and listening to the music.   
  
Waiting for them to come back.  
  
/This is a dream, so they'll come back./  
  
/They have to come back./  
  
~*~  
  
"Sylia? Sylia! Where are you, sweetie? It's dinnertime." Thin red lips pursed, and a well-manicured hand reached up to swipe away a reddish-brown curl of hair.   
  
"Sylia!"  
  
"Me~ow."  
  
The tall woman whirled in her stylish red pumps, and she clicked her tongue down at a silver-gray cat that sat, purring, next to a door.   
  
"Where were you? You've got to learn to eat with the others, y'know."  
  
"Ra~rr..."  
  
"Ri~ght." She raised an eyebrow, then, with a swift bend of her knees and a well-aimed swing, scooped up the cat and strode down the hall, heels clicking. "Nene's the impatient type, you know, and Priss and Linna hate to let Nene take all the food."  
  
"Nyaaaa..."  
  
The woman blinked at this response, then shrugged and dumped the cat unceremoniously onto the floor as she entered the kitchen, where three other cats purred loudly at her approach.   
  
"Okay, okay, I got'er. We can eat dinner together, now - be patient!" Tongue clicking in annoyance, she opened up several cupboards and expertly opened the cat food cans, delivering dinner without so much as chipping a nail.  
  
"There," She smiled at her "sweeties" as they jumped on the large bowl, the smallest nearly upending it entirely. "Watch it, Nene - share and share alike, y'know."  
  
"Meow~!"  
  
"What?!" The woman feigned an indignant look, and was about to respond, when the doorbell rang, causing the cats to pause for only a moment in their feeding frenzy.  
  
"I wonder who that could be...?"  
  
She opened the door to a youthful, beaming face, capped off by light blonde locks. "Yes?"  
  
"Ms. Alissa Faraday?"  
  
"That's me, yes."   
  
Another beam, and the young man nodded as he checked off something on his clipboard. "I'm here to deliver a package to you. From a... " He ran his finger across the clipboard, then brightened again. "A Mr. Ian Portris. Do you accept?"  
  
"Ian!" Alissa Faraday gasped out in shock and joy, and she nodded back at the boy - he really did look like a boy - maybe still in his studies? - beckoning for him to come in. "Ian sent me something! Ohhh..." She glanced at the boy.  
  
"You're a courier, aren't you?"  
  
The blonde, startled by the look on Ms. Faraday's face, nodded again, his cheery face slowly melting into one of confusion. "Yes... Let me go back and get the package, okay, Ms. Faraday?"  
  
She paused for a moment, blinking at him, then suddenly realized. "Oh, yes! It's in the van, isn't it?" She laughed sheepishly, and one hand waved, dangerously close to the courier's head, nails whipping in the air. "Sometimes I forget - Ian doesn't use the wire too much. What's your name?"   
  
Blink. "Um, Quatre, ma'am."   
  
There was a silence again, as she pondered to herself, saying the name over and over again. The boy shifted, growing uneasy.   
  
"Um... I think I'll go get that now - "   
  
Then, as if she were on a spring that suddenly let go, jerked and waved him off once more. "Oh, yes, yes! The package is in the van, why don't you go get it, hm, Quatre?"  
  
There was a meow from behind her, and Alissa turned to look down at the four cats, who, curious, had come to greet the courier. Sylia met her gaze expectantly, and she frowned, glancing back at where the blonde was retrieving a large brown box from the back of a small, yet elegant, car.  
  
"Nya~"  
  
"I know, I know. He looks familiar to me, too, y'know."  
  
"I wonder where I've seen him~?"  
  
  
~*~  
  
It was an artificial sunset, as it had been for the past few years, since the L5 colony supervisors had decided to put up the canopy. Such an unprotected area, built only for aesthetic reasons, and, in the end, it had to be covered anyway.  
  
One must wonder where the architects of the colony got their sense, sometimes.  
  
Staring up at the pinkish-orange expanse above him, Chang Wufei pondered this for a moment, his perch from the rooftop of his home giving him enough height to view the section unobstructed, as well as the tiny motion sensors and holographic projectors that hovered near the ceiling of the colony. He tilted his head back, eyes unblinking at the ceiling.   
  
~  
  
"Wufei? Wufei!"  
  
//Ease my mind//  
  
//What can I do  
To get me to you?//  
  
~  
  
Funny how songs seemed to infiltrate his memories, as if they were always there -   
  
~  
  
"Wufei!" Laughter, a mixture of youth and mature. And the sounds of nature, all around.  
  
"There you are!" Their voices, calling out, fading away.  
  
//What can I do - //  
  
~  
  
He reached up, closed eyes seeing a spread hand, reaching toward the stars.  
  
//To get me to you?//  
  
Pale lips pursed, as the hand slowly went limp, then tightened into a quivering fist, and a voice, filled with self-loathing, whispered into the growing darkness.  
  
"Nothing else."  
  
The fist crashed down, thudding hard against the rooftop, while Wufei sat up and drew his gaze from the canopy, lost in his own world.  
  
"Nothing else matters now."  
  
~*~  
  
Note: This story was dug up from a file created a loooong time ago, and I'm wondering if I should continue it here. Comments much appreciated. ^_^  
And if you're wondering where the song came from, I think it was "Call Me, Call Me" from one of the Cowboy Bebop OSTs (no, I don't own Cowboy Bebop, either) 


End file.
